Flavio Briatore isn’t officially the team principal of Alpine. In fact, the Enstone outfit don’t have anyone with that job title on their books.
Oliver Oakes previously carried out the role, and Steve Nielsen, recently appointed as managing director, is the closest to a successor. In reality, though, Briatore is making the big decisions.
The Italian is an executive advisor, which effectively makes him the conduit between majority shareholders Renault and the F1 team. He was the driving force behind the decision to scrap the engine division (and buy a Mercedes power unit instead), as well as the hiring/firing of Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan.
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At 75, Briatore, who won four world championships for Benetton/Renault between 1994 and 2006, is also the oldest team ‘boss’ in the paddock by some distance. The closest is Fred Vasseur at 57.
Alpine have been linked with Christian Horner, and if Briatore were to retire soon, there could theoretically be a vacancy for the recently-sacked Red Bull boss.
Flavio Briatore is still ‘really committed to F1’ at the age of 75
Ralf Schumacher recently suggested that Horner would replace Briatore ‘at the top’. He would be the ‘technically skilled’ leader that Alpine need.
If he wants to slot into the hierarchy above Briatore, Horner will have to invest £298m into Alpine. He doesn’t have those funds himself, so would need wealthy backers.
Horner wants sufficient ‘control’ of any team he joins; indeed, this was one of the issues that led to his Red Bull sacking. One can envisage a potential power struggle between the Briton and Briatore in the current Alpine structure.
One solution would be for Briatore to step aside, but as Pierre Gasly made clear in an interview with formula.hu, he has no plans to do so. Alpine may be last in the constructors’, but he’s determined to restore them ‘to the top’.
“There are teams that want to do it [win], but the reality is that they are always stuck in the middle of the pack,” said Gasly. “Flavio has no limits, the sky is the limit.
“He is really committed to F1 and his goal is to bring Enstone back to the top, as he did in the past. Obviously, things have changed a lot since then, but he is very aware of that. He wants to achieve his goal and he is putting in the work to do it.”
Christian Horner’s Red Bull settlement emerges as exit now official
Horner has only just finalised his departure from Red Bull, as official documents show. The ownership relieved him of team principal duties but had to negotiate a pay-off because his contract ran until 2030.
He will reportedly receive a ‘high double-digit million-dollar’ sum. Perhaps some of that money could go towards the mooted Alpine offer.
Wherever he ends up, there’s a possibility that he brings a contingent of staff with him from Red Bull. Multiple reports have indicated that there’s an enduring loyalty to the 51-year-old in some quarters.
And crucially, some Red Bull staff had a ‘Horner clause’ in their contracts, tying their future to the former boss. It remains to be seen if any of those individuals choose to activate it.